Albemarle Raises Prices of Aluminum Alkyls

BATON ROUGE, La., Feb. 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Albemarle Corporation , the world’s leading producer of organometallic compounds used in polyolefin production and chemical synthesis, will increase the prices of the neat portion of all of its aluminum alkyl products by approximately 40 percent in the Middle East and 25 percent in the Americas effective April 1, 2008, or as contracts allow. Prices for solvent blends of organometallics also will be increased, as needed, to address higher solvent acquisition costs.

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In addition to the aforementioned increase, Albemarle also will further increase the prices of the neat portion of its aluminum alkyl products sold as solvent blends by the percentages in the nearby table, on a global basis, also effective April 1, 2008, or as contracts allow.

   Blend Concentration  10-14% 15-19% 20-24% 25-29% 30-34% 35-39% 40-49% >50%   Increase Amount      65%    50%    40%    30%    25%    20%    15%    10%    

Albemarle’s polyolefin catalysts division, part of the company’s Catalysts business segment, enhances daily living by helping provide stronger, safer packaging and other materials with increasingly unique properties; encouraging safe and sustainable manufacturing practices; and driving technological and economic development worldwide.

Albemarle Corporation, headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, is a leading global developer, manufacturer and marketer of highly engineered specialty chemicals for consumer electronics; petroleum and petrochemical processing; transportation and industrial products; pharmaceuticals; agricultural products; and construction and packaging materials. The Company operates in three business segments-Polymer Additives, Catalysts and Fine Chemicals, and serves customers in approximately 100 countries. Learn more about Albemarle at http://www.albemarle.com/.

“Safe Harbor” Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: Statements in this press release regarding Albemarle Corporation’s business which are not historical facts are “forward-looking statements” that involve risks and uncertainties. For a discussion of such risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, see “Risk Factors” in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K.

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Albemarle Corporation

CONTACT: Stephanie Dixon, +1-225-388-7904, Stephanie_Dixon@albemarle.com,or Rene Milligan, +1-225-388-7106, Rene_Milligan@albemarle.com; or InvestorRelations, Sandra Rodriguez, +1-225-388-7654, Sandra_Rodriguez@albemarle.com,all of Albemarle Corporation

Web site: http://www.albemarle.com/